Petro-Canada needed to treat the produced water from a Coal Bed Methane (CBM) project to meet discharge regulations and minimize waste volumes. In 2004, the company acquired assets in the US Rocky Mountain region to strengthen its gas business. The Powder River basin area near Gillette, Wyoming, is home to many gas wells, including Petro-Canada’s Wild Turkey CBM project.
CBM wells usually have to be dewatered to reduce pressure and allow methane gas to be released from the coal. This produced water often contains contaminants that have to be removed before the water can be discharged into public water streams. Petro-Canada worked with Siemens Water Technologies to determine the most cost-effective and efficient way to treat and dispose the large quantities of produced water.
BACKGROUND
The Water Quality Division of the Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality (WDEQ) is responsible for the Environmental Protection Agency’s NPDES (National Pollutants Discharge Elimination System) program for Wyoming.